


Endeavour: New Beginnings

by RosalineFae



Series: Endeavour [1]
Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: ArujaRose, F/M, Family, First story here, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, Multi, Orphan - Freeform, Samuel Swan, Shape Shifters, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Tragic history, Vampires, moving abroad, second cousins, three way relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:33:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25988260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosalineFae/pseuds/RosalineFae
Summary: Samuel, an average 17 year old boy is sent to live with his Aunt's cousin Charlie Swan in Forks. After loosing everything he holds dear, he is moved half way across the world with no say in the matter. Samuel is having enough trouble just trying to survive High School in a new country. Ad in his growing feelings for an already established couple, subjects he's never studied before and his own trauma that Samuel is trying to work through. Throw attractive Vampires and Shapeshifters into the mix and you just have to wonder how he's going to get through it all.Eventual Jasper Whitlock-Hale/Alice Cullen/Original Male Character. If you don't like that kind of relationship, please feel free to skip this story.I originally posted this on FanFiction.net, but never completed it after loosing all of my notes. Years later, I've come back to it and decided to rewrite almost all of it to post here. If you want to read the original, it's under A Spark of Life by AurjunaRose on that site.
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale, Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale/Original Male Character(s), Angela Weber/Eric Yorkie, Carlisle Cullen/Esme Cullen, Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, Emmett Cullen/Rosalie Hale, Jasper Whitlock/Alice Cullen/Original Male Character(s), Mike Newton/Jessica Stanley, Tyler Crowley/Lauren Mallory
Series: Endeavour [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1886191
Comments: 9
Kudos: 44





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> This is just an intro into the story. Not much is revealed at the moment, but next chapter I will be including more details about my OC. I am basing this off of both the movies and the books, so some characters and events not in the films may confuse some people. I apologise for any confusion now. Unfortunately I lost most of my notes on this story a few years ago and I’m only just starting to get my inspiration back for it, so there will be some inconsistencies, especially as I am going through the chapters I have already posted, editing them and then posting them on here. For now enjoy the story!

40 thousand feet in the air sat an exhausted teenage boy. His soft, almost platinum, blond hair, a mess. Sticking out in all directions disturbed by a set of blue headphones. Icy blue eyes rimmed in black from lack of sleep stared out the window as he watched the clouds pass by. The old lady, smelling of lilac soap and wet dog, that sat next him jolted awake suddenly when a voice raised over the intercom.

"Attention passengers, we will be touching down in Port Angeles shortly. We ask that all passen..."

The boy placed his hand on the shoulder of the lady to comfort her as she looked around herself in a panic. She turned to him, her face expressing her confusion and distress. He gave her a smile and rubbed her shoulder a little and she appeared to calm down and expressed her apologies. He simply waved her off and returned to peering out of the plane at the rapidly approaching ground.

**XXxxoxxXX**

Stepping off of the plane, Samuel walked over to collect his luggage, a large suitcase filled with everything he holds dear to him that wasn't already in the backpack on his back. This was his fourth flight in a row and he was exhausted. Being unable to fall asleep in the air for more than half an hour at a time with only a three hour layover meant he could barely walk straight at the moment. He was dreading the hour long car ride he still had to endure with a complete stranger.

His aunt's cousin, Charlie offered to take care of him even though it meant that Samuel had to be dragged overseas. Sure Samuel understood that his Aunt couldn't really take care of him for long. Abbagale was a 25 year old woman who held two jobs that she struggled to keep to pay rent for her small apartment building in the center of Sydney, Australia. With all her time taken up by work Samuel knew it wouldn’t work out. Not when his therapist had recommended that Samuel not be left alone for too long. So one night, during one of her monthly calls to her cousin Charlie Swan, the man offered to take care of Samuel for her. At first she was hesitant, but after another month Abbagale couldn't deny that she was unable to truly take care of the orphaned boy. So with that it was all arranged to have him shipped off to the states without a say in the matter. Not that he would have disagreed. It had been months since Samuel had expressed any kind of desire to enjoy his life. He had barely spoken at all in the past few months since the incident, apart from what was necessary to get by. Not even his friends could get much of a response out of the boy these days. He would always state that they didn’t understand that he wasn’t the same boy they used to know. Samuel had changed and it was too exhausting to keep up the facade for long.

His Aunt had mentioned to him, on their way to Sydney's main airport, that Charlie was the Chief of Police and would be leaving to get him right after work, so he would still be in his uniform. The problem with this is that, as he slowly walked towards the pickup area there were many police officers in uniform patrolling the airport. At one point he saw one sitting down alone on a bench, so he walked up to him about to ask the man if he was who he was meant to meet up with, only for the officer to give him a strange look before glancing behind him. The officer unhooked his gun and stood up, not taking it out, but drawing attention to it nonetheless. Having never seen a gun before Samuel panicked and took a step back as the officer walked past him and over to a shifty looking woman who was attempting to take some tourist's luggage. Taking a deep breath to calm his frantically beating heart, Samuel didn't notice the person behind him until it was too late. A hand came down onto his shoulder making him jump and turn around in a rush. Standing there was a middle aged man in a police uniform. The man took a step back from him and held his hands up as a sign of peace.

"Sorry about that. You’re Samuel Swan, right?" His curly dark brown hair almost black in shade and his door handle mustache sparked a memory in his mind. This was the man his Aunt had described to a ‘T’. The comparison made him let out a recently rare small laugh.

"Charlie Swan?" The man's reaction was instant. He stopped looking so awkward, let his hands down and relaxed a bit. A small smile appeared on his face.

"It's nice to finally meet you. It was Samuel right? Abbagale showed me a picture of you to make sure I take the right guy home with me,” Charlie asked, a slight grin on his face, “I'll help you with that," He held out his hand to take the luggage from Samuel with an awkward chuckle. Nodding in reply Samuel gratefully handed over the large suitcase, not having the strength to drag it around with him for much longer, "I don't suppose you want to grab a bite to eat before we go?" It was a simple question, but even so it made Sam feel sick. He shook his head holding his hand up to refuse while another rested on his stomach. Samuel didn't know if Charlie somehow understood or just didn't want to break the fragile bond they were forming, but he asked no more questions as they headed to his car, which Samuel was grateful for.

**XXxxoxxXX**

During the hour-long ride to Forks, Charlie tried to talk to Samuel, but it was too hard for the boy to focus. The passing scenery started to blur together and Charlie's words became a haze. Having only a few hours sleep in the past two days filled with never ending variations in altitude had taken its toll on the boy. The already fuzzy world turned black as sleep once again claimed him. When Charlie noticed he just sighed and continued on driving in silence, grateful for the small relief in pressure he was feeling to build a relationship with his late cousin’s child. Unfortunately when they arrived at the Swan residence, Charlie faced the dilemma of waking a boy he didn't know. At first he called out to Samuel, but when that didn't work after a few goes he hesitantly reached over and shook the fragile looking teen’s shoulder. Slowly the boy began to mumble, “5 more minutes, Dad,” Charlie swallowed the lump that formed in his throat at remembering the horrific story he was told about his cousin and his family’s tragic passing. Charlie couldn’t even imagine what this teenage boy was going through. Trying once more, Charlie succeeds in making Samuel open his eyes and look around.

"Um...We’re here." He felt so awkward waking him knowing that Samuel probably desperately needed it, judging from one look at the boy’s disheveled form and the bags under his eyes, but it couldn't be avoided. Walking around to the trunk, Charlie grabbed Samuel's luggage and carried it to the front door. Grabbing his keys he unlocked the door and left it open while he walked back to his car. During this time Samuel had slowly woken up enough to realize he needed to get out of the car, and so he tried to lift himself up. Not realising how little strength he truly had at that moment, Samuel’s trembling legs collapsed from underneath him, making him fall to the ground. Charlie, realizing that Samuel couldn't make it alone, picked him up and supported him while they slowly made it into the house and up the stairs to a blank room that held a single bed, bedside table and desk. Not taking in much more of the converted study room, Samuel, with help from Charlie made it to the bed where he unceremoniously dumped himself, succumbing to sleep once more.

Charlie grabbed the blanket and tucked Samuel in, moving the hair off of the boy’s face. Sighing, he stood up and walked to the door, closing it silently behind him, “Poor kid. Hopefully a change in scenery will do him good.” 


	2. Settling In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to clear up any confusion. Charlie's cousin is Samuel's father. So Samuel and Bella are in fact second cousins.

A large forest surrounded the camp site where no more than six cabins stood erect, dotted about the place in some variation of an oval. Families went about their business; playing fetch with the dog, cooking up a barbeque, getting ready to go fishing at the nearby lake, running around with the other kids or sunbathing. Everything was perfect besides an old married couple arguing over what to do in the background. The overall atmosphere was that of a peaceful family outing. But something was wrong. He could feel it. Terror suddenly overtook his senses as he heard a blood curdling scream. The scenery around him changes and makes him feel ill. A squeeze on his hand and he ran, pulling something behind him along. A faint bell like laughter rings in his ears.

Bolting upright, Samuel knocked his head on something solid. His eyes were ablaze as he frantically searched around him for any hidden threat. Noticing for once the man standing beside his bed holding a hand up to his head, rubbing a particular spot in circles, Samuel began to take deep breaths to calm down. His body was drenched in sweat, shocking his senses as cold air hit his burning skin. Breathing heavily Samuel realized just what that hard object he hit on his way up was.

Blushing in embarrassment, Samuel lowered his head and mumbled, "sorry," he chanced a look up, peeking through his damp oily hair, to see Charlie standing awkwardly stopping himself from rubbing his head more.

"Yeah uh...no problem." Charlie’s eyes roamed the room, trying to keep them anywhere but on Samuel until he realized how futile that was. Sighing, he sat himself on the side of the bed, "Hey look. My cousin told me about your situation... and I know you've only just met me, but I just wanted to let you know that... Well you can talk to me if you want. I'm not the best with advice, but it's better than nothing, right? We are family after all," The entire time during his speech Charlie sat still staring at the door, back turned to the boy and a hand rubbing the back of his head.

Although most people would probably be offended at his posture, Samuel was grateful. He didn't know if he could stand anyone saying that to him again while staring at him with looks of pity in their eyes, "Thanks," He muttered feeling emotions for this man he was simply too exhausted to decipher, "Probably not necessary though," Samuel says to try to cover up just how deeply his words affected him.

"Right. So um, lunch is ready on the table downstairs if you want to come and join us after getting dressed," The hope was clear in his voice as he stood up and walked out of the room. After what his cousin, Abbagale, had told him about the boy's eating habits after the incident, he truly did hope he came downstairs to eat something. A sandwich or piece of fruit at least.

Getting up out of bed, Samuel realized just how much of a mess he really was. His clothes were completely crumpled up, one pant leg even half way up his leg. His hair was oily and sticking up in all directions making him look like some ridiculous anime character from one of the shows he and his friends used to watch. Samuel didn't even want to think about just how dark his eyes must have looked. Then the smell hit him. He smelled of a large array of things all tangled up together. Like sweat, Linx that he had been using to cover it up, old musty sheets, lilac soap and wet dog, along with more things he simply did not wish to identify. He felt like he was going to be sick. Never before had he felt this dirty. Therefore, when he stepped out of the room only to bump into a girl around the same height and age as him, he couldn't stop the blush from appearing and spreading over his face.

"S-sorry!" He stammered, completely embarrassed by his current state, "Um, where is the bathroom please?" The desperation in his voice must have been clear for she simply pointed to the door next to his room. He dashed off muttering a quick, "thanks," before closing and locking the door behind him. After quickly relieving himself, he looked around, almost jumping for joy when he saw the shower. He rapidly removed his shirt and threw it in a random corner before turning the taps on. Steam started to fill the room in minutes. Before long he was fully naked and ready to jump into the steaming water when there was a knock at the bathroom door. Swearing, Samuel realized that he forgot to grab a towel before undressing, "Uhhh... One second!" He yelled, trying to find something to cover himself up with.

"It's just me, Bella. You rushed into the bathroom so quickly I didn’t get a chance to show you where we keep the towels," A voice on the other side of the door mentioned.

"Yeah, I kinda realized that too," Samuel admitted having grabbed his pants and quickly placed them on in a hurry. He opened the door slightly to reveal the same girl as before. Bella, he thought she said her name was. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of Samuel half naked and surrounded by steam. She held out a towel and looked away, trying to hide the small blush that was dusting her fair cheeks. He snatched the towel from Bella's hands yelling a quick, "Thanks," again as he closed the door on her, barely realising he had just slammed the door on his cousin. Sighing in relief at the feeling of water on his skin once more, Samuel felt like he could finally let down his guard and feel comfortable in a place so alien to him. For a short moment at least.

**XXxxoxxXX**

Once dressed again in fresh clean clothes and towel dried hair, Samuel grabbed his headphones and phone before heading downstairs in hopes of finding the food Charlie mentioned earlier. Finding no sign of Charlie or the food anywhere he turned on his music and started to wander around and inspect the place he was going to be living in from then on. The house was medium in size, but had a nice feel all around. He guessed it was probably due to all the photos placed around and the way the couches seemed so comfortable and worn in. How everything seemed to mesh together well even with the odd thing here and there that made no sense. Like the fishing rods in with the umbrellas near the front door. The large empty space next to the main couch where someone had moved a single one to the corner of the room to create a void. He guessed it probably held some kind of purpose or symbolic meaning and figured he would find out eventually. The house was nothing like what he was used to, but that was probably a good thing. The less chances of having his past memories come up, the better. 

Walking back around to the dining room Samuel noticed Bella descending the stairs so he took his headphones off of one ear in order to hear her.

"Charlie said to let you know that he had to go to work. They called him in for something while you were in the shower," Remembering his embarrassment from the situation before, he nodded his head and looked away, spotting the sandwiches on the bench to the left of him. Grabbing half of one that looked interesting he headed over to the table and curiously took a bite. Moaning in delight he hungrily took another large mouthful. Bella just shook his strange behavior off as jet lag, grabbing a sandwich for herself and joining him, "I'm surprised you slept for so long. You arrived last night around six and it's already three o’clock now," Shocked eyes stared back at her. He glanced at the clock, realizing for the first time that it was just a little after three p.m.. That meant that he had ultimately been asleep for around twenty one hours. Even so he couldn't help but feel tired. Not to mention the rings around his eyes hadn't seemed to fade much even with that amount of sleep. Then again he couldn't remember the last time he managed to get a peaceful night's sleep. Letting out a sigh he realized there was no point worrying about it then. So standing up, he grabbed the other half of the sandwich and headed back upstairs to the room he was now stuck in for the next couple of years until he graduated.

**XXxxoxxXX**

Unpacking his suitcase and backpack that Charlie so kindly brought up to his room while he was unconscious took less time than expected. His entire life that was packed into those two bags found their rightful places in the room. The clothes occupied close to half of the closet Charlie must have bought for Samuel to use, his laptop and phone were plugged into the wall and stationed on his Charlie’s old desk, two photo frames placed on the right. One held a young woman, probably in her early thirties, and the other showed an older man in his late 40's early 50's holding a little girl no older than 12 in the air, both with huge smiles on their faces. An old silver watch lay in front of the photos. Sitting in two large stacks stood a collection of CD's containing genre's ranging from classical and orchestral to pop, rock and heavy metal. A small CD player that Charlie must have left him, next to the CD’s on the ground tuned into the local radio station, played recent pop music. He still needed to buy a table to put it on. Samuel figured he would get one later. On the other side of the room, from his bed, looked out to the forest surrounding half of the house. Sighing, Samuel walked over to the window and opened it, took in a deep breath and enjoyed the relative silence. Letting it calm him.

**XXxxoxxXX**

At 7 o’clock, Charlie finally arrived home. Bella had made something for dinner, but not knowing what time he would get back she ate hers after trying several times to get Samuel to join her. Charlie walked in on Bella trying for the umpteenth time to get Samuel to eat his as well, but Samuel simply turned up the volume of his music and went back to reading his book and ignored her, "you were out cold for almost a day and you've only had a sandwich since then. You need to eat," She exasperated, sounding as though she had been trying to get him to eat for hours, and for all Charlie knew, she had been.

"Bella, calm down. If he doesn't want to eat then you shouldn't force him," Charlie defended Samuel as he walked into the kitchen, setting his keys and gun on the table. Eyeing the piece, Samuel edged his chair further away, feeling even more uncomfortable.

"But Charlie, he's only had a sandwich today," Bella explained, trying to get him to see reason.

"Bella, just let him be. If he wants to eat something he will," She seemed to deflate at that, realizing that she was fighting a losing battle.

"Alright. Your food is in the oven by the way. I didn't know when you would be home so I just kept it warm," Bella grabbed Charlie a beer from the fridge, placing it on the table while Charlie took out his plate from the oven and walked over to eat it at the table beside Samuel.

"Excuse me," Samuel said, getting up to leave.

"Wait a moment. There's something I need to talk to you about," Charlie quickly tried to say through a mouth full of steak.

Samuel looked hesitant at first, eyeing the gun once more, "Can you move that first?" His hand motioning towards it, unsure. Charlie's eyes widened, just realizing then that Samuel was not used to seeing guns casually lying around the place. He picked it up, stood and placed it in the kitchen, behind the bench, so it was out of sight. Noticing Samuel relax a bit at that, he sat back down, and gestured for Samuel to do the same. Samuel took off his headphones and sat down across from Charlie.

"Right. Well, I wanted to bring up the conditions for you living here and inform you of the ground rules,” At hearing his, Samuel tensed, unsure if he would be able to meet Charlie’s expectations, “First, you’re going to have to start attending school again. I know you’ve been studying online, but I don’t want you to be cooped up in here all day. Going to school and having a routine should be good for you. So I’ve already enrolled you in the local High School, where Bella goes and I’ve spoken with the school counselor to set up weekly sessions with him," Having no idea how to react to what Charlie was saying, Samuel just sat there thinking about what that would mean while Charlie gave him time. On one hand it would give him something to do with his time and maybe make it easier to settle himself in with something familiar, but on the other hand he had never had an American education. He didn't know how different the classes would be or how far ahead or behind Australian education was. Not to mention he wasn't looking forward to all the blatant staring and gossip that would more than likely occur upon his arrival. It had been his plan to simply study online, but apparently that wasn't Charlie's.

"When?" Samuel asked apprehensively.

"Next Monday. There's no point having you go tomorrow, for one day, when you don’t have anything to take with you. It'll also give you a chance to look over Bella's books to get a feel for what is in store. Also on the weekend I'll be taking you to the local DMV, to get you to take a driving test for your license,” As Samuel listened to Charlie’s conditions he began to wonder how well he was going to handle living here, in a new country, far away from everything and everyone he ever knew. Hardly anything here was familiar and he was now forced to adapt and get used to a completely new life where he now had to see a new therapist weekly, find a job and attend school regularly, “Is that okay?" Charlie asked at the end. He knew it was a lot to put on the boy, but apparently Samuel’s last therapist had recommended that he get out more and have a set routine in place, so Charlie was going to try his best to do what he could for what would, for all intent and purposes be his adoptive son. Samuel simply sighed, nodding his head before standing up and excusing himself from the table, walking out of the room. It's not like he really had a choice in the matter. At least he was still in a country where they spoke a language he understood.


	3. First Impressions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone else hate when you lose a chapter and then have to write it all up again? Not just me? Great! Anyway, if you spot any errors or issues please feel free to point them out to me.   
> Also, just to clear up some possible confusion, I don’t know much at all about the American education system, so class structures will most likely have a huge amount of flaws. Sorry in advance.  
> Enjoy~

Monday morning found a nervous Samuel pacing his room at five a.m, music blaring through his headphones. His mind was a wreck as he simply couldn't calm down. Thoughts and simulations, about how the day could possibly go, ran rampant through his mind. What if he was so far behind in every subject that he couldn't keep up? Or maybe he was actually ahead of everyone here, answering every question right making the students think he was a ‘know it all’? What if that made everyone hate him and he couldn't even make one friend? Maybe when he showed up they would all simply laugh at him? Had Bella already gone around school letting everyone know just how much of a weirdo he really was? No. Samuel didn't think Bella was that kind of person. Not from what he had seen of her taking care of Charlie. Oh god. What if everyone simply ignored him, like he didn't exist? What then? He didn't think he would be able to handle that. He may not talk much now, but there was a time before all this shit happened where Samuel was constantly surrounded by people, talking sports or music. Even just about random little things that had happened in life. He was never alone. Even after all this he had never been left alone for more than a few hours. Even if he didn't know the people or necessarily like them, at least they talked to him. There was never quiet. Silence was his largest irrational fear. It was one of the reasons he always had his headphones on. To avoid the silence. But if people at this school really didn't like him then...

His thoughts were interrupted by an irritated Bella, still in her pajamas, yanking off his headphones. Stopping in his tracks, he turned around and stared at Bella, confused as to why she was here. It surely wasn't time to go yet, was it? "Will you please stop pacing. It's doing my head in. What sane person wakes up at four to get ready for their first day at a new school?" He blushed, looking away from her and rubbed the back of his head not saying a thing. She rolled her eyes, handing him his headphones back, "Since you've woken me up, I may as well get ready too. I'll let you know when we are leaving. Okay?" Walking out of his room, she glanced back to see him nod his head. Not knowing what to do until then, he placed his headphones back on, music still blasting, and flopped back onto his already made bed. He had already packed his bag, chosen an outfit he thought wouldn’t catch too many eyes and cleaned his room. There was nothing else he could figure out to do to occupy his mind.

An hour later Samuel was no longer in his room freaking out about the day ahead. Instead he found himself downstairs in the living room reading one of Bella's History books. Honestly he found it all quite fascinating, even if a little hard to follow and keep up with at times. It was one of the reasons why, when Charlie sat down with him Sunday to choose his subjects, History was one of the first he had chosen. Along with English and Mathematics he had also picked P.E. since he wanted to stay active and Law. He had a feeling that it would probably be the subject he would have the most difficulty in, but he was curious. Besides, it sounded far better than Biology, Chemistry, Physics, or Psychology. Samuel was never a science guy, by any stretch of the word. He was told he had to choose one more subject, so in order to avoid the stress from all his other subjects, he chose art. It didn't matter to him that he could hardly draw. He figured that he could always hand in horrendous work and call it abstract, like he had in his last school. It always worked then.

A tap on his shoulder clued him into Bella's presence behind him. Lowering his headphones and turning around to greet her, he found she was holding out his new backpack filled with the school supplies he had bought when they went shopping yesterday, along with a banana in her other hand, for him to eat. He shook his head at the fruit, making Bella release an exasperated sigh, "Ready?" Bella asked Samuel, who grabbed his bag from her outstretched hand. Patting himself down to check he did indeed have his wallet, phone and spare key Charlie had left on the bench for him this morning, along with a note attached wishing him well, he muttered a small noise in the affirmative before leaving with Bella, who took the banana with her.

**XXxxoxxXX**

Upon arriving at Forks High School, 'home of the Spartans', Samuel began to realize just how small of a town he was now living in. Honestly, if there wasn't a car-park and sign clearly stating that this was the school, he would have completely missed it. How this miss-matched clump of buildings managed to be deemed a school, he would never know. What surprised him the most though, was the fact that people actually manage to ignore Bella's truck rolling into the lot. With the amount of noise it made and it's rusted condition, he was sure everyone would be staring, even after having Bella pull up in it every day for the past two months since she started in January. But he guessed that they somehow became used to it. Samuel didn't think he ever could. After all, he was used to driving around in cars that, at most, have only been in rotation for five years or so. This thing felt over thirty years at least. Hopping out of the truck, he began to feel the stares. Every single eye in the vicinity turned to stare at the new guy, and all he could do was place his headphones on and try to ignore them all. Bella, knowing what it felt like to be the new kid at a school so small, grabbed Samuel's hand to lead him to the office building, not noticing him flinching at the contact.

Luckily, as they entered the office, a lady at the desk was just finishing up with a previous inquiry. As they walked up to her, she smiled, "Good morning, Bella. I take it this is Samuel Swan?" At Bella's confirmation she reached down and grabbed some pieces of paper, "Okay, now this is a map of the school and your timetable, along with a slip you must get every teacher to sign for each class you have today and tomorrow, hand it back at the end of tomorrow. Unfortunately there is a slight hiccup with your subjects though. Art class is already over capacity, so I'm afraid you can't take it. However there are two classes that run at the same time that you can choose from without disrupting the rest of your schedule," At his curious look she continued, "The only subjects free in that block are Spanish or Biology."

Samuel suddenly groaned, "Great. Spanish then," He may have hated Spanish, but it was better than Biology, and at least he knew what he was doing in that class, having taken it for the last two years, whereas he had dropped Biology, along with any and all science subjects, as soon as he could.

"Okay then. Have a great day," Smile still etched on her face as though it was the best day of her life, and for all he knows, it possibly was.

Taking everything from the bench, he walked with Bella out of the room, with her showing him the way to his first class before heading off to her own. AP Maths. At least he knew what he was doing in this subject. As he walked into the classroom, his teacher, an elderly man with hair like Einstein, took his slip and signed it, asking him to take off his headphones, stand in front of the class to introduce himself. Oh, how he hoped not every class was going to be like this. Rolling his eyes, he began his 'speech', "I'm Samuel, 17, I like music and play soccer," The teacher, 'Mr. Einstein', Samuel decided to call him in his head, looked unimpressed with his lackluster introduction, but sent him on his way in any case. Muttering under his breath he walked off to the only empty chair at the back of the room, next to a girl with long black hair and glasses.

"Hi, I'm Angela," The girl, Angela waved her hand slightly at him after he dumped his books on the table and his bag behind him. He hadn't managed to go to his locker yet, because they needed to grab the key from someone else first, and Bella told him they weren't in until after his next class, so he was stuck carrying around his bag until then.

"Hey," He said as he turned to the page indicated by the teacher, resting his head on his palm in boredom and started to pay attention to the lesson. One of the girls in front of him swung around and whispered to him.

"What kind of accent is that?" Her voice, an annoyingly high pitched tone, blonde hair pulled up into a messy ponytail and makeup caked on her face in an attempt to hide her recent breakout, made him feel a little ill.

"Australian," Samuel stated, already starting to get annoyed at her.

"It's hot," With that, the other girl sitting next to her burst out in giggles. Her face was not nearly as caked up and her brown hair down was in ringlets, unlike the first girl.

"Um... Thanks?" He asked, not sure what to do in a situation such as this. Never before had anyone commented on his accent. Then again, that was back in Australia, where everyone sounded roughly the same, so he guessed it was normal.

"Miss Evans, would you please turn back around and pay attention to the class?" The teacher, 'Mr. Einstein', as Samuel now firmly called him in his head, not bothering to learn his actual name, yelled at the girl. Miss Evans rolled her eyes, winking at Samuel before she turned back around. Her friend followed quickly in suit. Samuel just sat there slightly embarrassed.

"Ignore them. They are always like that. Cheerleaders," Angela spoke up to defuse the situation. Samuel smiled in thanks, before paying attention to class once more, slightly more comfortable with the girl he shared the desk with.

**XXxxoxxXX**

When the bell rang at the end of his first class, Angela and Samuel packed up together. During class, Angela and Samuel came to a kind of agreement. Whenever the other was stuck on anything they helped each other out, trying to not just give the answer away.

"What's your next class?" Angela asked, as she finished packing her equipment up. He pulled his schedule out of his pocket to check.

"Um, History... I think," The schedule, having been written by hand and crumpled up, made it kind of difficult to read.

"May I?" Angela held out her hand for the piece of paper. Seeing no reason why not to, he passed it over. She scrunched up her eyes a bit before nodding her head, "Yep, definitely History. It's right next to my next class. I can take you, if you want?" Taking back his schedule, Samuel agreed, following her out of the room and down the hallway, grateful to have made what he hoped was a friend already. Saying goodbye to Angela, Samuel walked into his History class, handing the slip to the teacher to be signed again. Thankfully, this one didn't ask him to stay there to introduce himself when the rest of the class showed up, instead telling him to sit at the back again, on the aisle side, as it was the only seat available. Muttering a simple 'K', he headed to the back of the room and took his seat, placing his headphones back on until class started. Slowly the room began to fill with people chatting and laughing. Looking out the window, over the still empty chair, with his music blaring, Samuel didn't notice most of the students staring at him, or even the brave few who attempted talking to him. All he wanted to do was forget. Forget about where he was, how he came to be there, what his life would now hold. All of it. Maybe history class would be exactly what he needed then to distract himself. Lose himself in other events of the past.

**XXxxoxxXX**

Upon entering the classroom, to his first year History class, a second before the bell, Jasper was hit with the usual flux of emotions. Jealousy, boredom, love, arousal, excitement and dread along with the ever present scent of blood. Taking a moment to steady himself from the onslaught of hormonal teenage feelings, Jasper continued to hold his breath, simply nodding to the teacher's comment of him 'cutting it close'. Glancing over at his usual table, his mind suddenly cleared of all thoughts. Sitting there, in the seat next to his, unoccupied since the start of the school year, was the new boy people had been gossiping about. Although it was uncomfortable, he held his breath and walked to the back table and took his seat, ignoring the curious stares from the rest of the class around him. Fighting the constant urge to drain the innocent humans around him, Jasper took out his props and placed them on the table, remembering to keep his chest moving and started to fidget with a pen. 

Samuel tensed as he noticed someone finally taking the empty seat at his table. Something felt wrong about the person who now occupied the seat next to him. He could feel his instincts flaring up, telling him that this person was dangerous. Not wanting to make eye contact with the new addition to his table, Samuel looked away from the window, opened his history book to a random page and started reading, trying to ignore how uncomfortable he now felt.

Sensing the boy’s sudden change of emotions and the discomfort from the situation, Jasper quickly used his gift to send calming waves to the boy. If this boy’s senses weren’t kept in check, it could mean trouble for his family. As Samuel visibly relaxed, Jasper was able to clearly take in the boy’s appearance. He dressed like any other male that knew basic fashion. A woolen knit jumper with a pair of jeans and sneakers covered his small frame. The clothes appeared old yet expensive. Probably chosen to not draw too much attention to himself. But his shoes he wore were designer and could not be more than a year old. A pair of headphones disturbed his short, straight blonde hair, a few shades lighter than his 'sister' Rosalie's and close to the same length as his, short at the bottom and longer at the top, in a purposely messy style. The boy’s skin was slightly tanned from time spent in the sunlight, but fading, indicating that he had been spending more time indoors recently. His eyes though. They weren't the classical blue, but more like the colours of a glacier found in the arctic, cold, but with an underlining warmth and kindness. Having starred long enough, even though it was only mere seconds, Jasper felt now was the best time to introduce himself. After all, the boy may get suspicious if he didn’t ever talk to him.

"Hello,” Choosing to use as few words as possible to preserve the air in his lungs, Jasper put on a kind smile, not wanting to startle him.

"Uh... Hi?" Samuel felt flustered as he removed his headphones and placed them around his neck, finally looking at the man next to him, for he couldn’t possibly ever call him a boy. Not when he looked like the incarnation of Adonis himself. Taking in the perfectly chiseled jawline, unblemished skin, plump lips forming a charming crooked grin and impossibly golden eyes, Samuel’s heart nearly skipped a beat. Never before had he seen anyone quite so perfect. For some reason Samuel expected to be ignored for this class, even though now, as he thought about it, that was a foolish notion. He was the latest news in this small town, after all. 

"Jasper Hale,” As Jasper introduced himself, Samuel couldn’t help but notice that his accent was different to those around them. Not that he minded. It suited the man quite well, he thought, wondering what it would be like to hear Jasper speak more. 

“Ah...right. Yeah, Samuel Swan. Nice to meet you, Jasper,” Samuel slightly stammered, whipping his sweaty hands over his jeans before offering it to Jasper. But instead of shaking his hand like Samuel thought he would, Jasper frowned, staring down at the offered hand. He began to feel slightly awkward, holding his hand out like that, so Samuel chuckled nervously and brought his hand back, messing up his hair more, “Your accent sounds different. Where are you from?" Samuel inquired as he tried to start a conversation, only to be interrupted by the teacher.

"Alright class, that's enough chatter for now. Open your books to page 394 and we'll continue on from the last lesson. I'll rely on you, Jasper, to help Samuel keep up," He instructed the class, making the two break eye contact and pay attention to class. Turning to the page indicated, Samuel continued to read, trying his best to keep up with the teacher, not noticing that Jasper never bothered to glance at his.

“Houston, Texas,” Distracted for a moment by Jasper’s voice, Samuel smiled, glad that he seemed to at least be getting along with the people next to him in class so far.

“Sydney, Australia,” He replied in kind, before paying attention to his book and the class once more.

As the class continued forward, Jasper couldn't help noticing Samuel's face grow more and more confused over time, until he let out a frustrated noise and closed his book. Samuel had no idea what any of this meant. Maybe he was wrong when he chose this class. After all, he had no experience in American History at all. Sure, he knew a decent amount about world history, quite a few wars, major legislation and movements, different cultures and their impact on society today, but not much at all about all these small wars, politicians and local territories. When the teacher would reference something not in his text, Samuel was lost. He barely even knew what states surrounded him, let alone all the ones in the US. 

Sensing Samuel's frustration adding onto his own at being stuck in this small room with so many warm bodies, Jasper tried to calm him down a little, cautious as to not make him suspicious. 

"What's wrong?" He asked the boy in a whisper. Samuel blushed, mumbling a quiet, 'nothing', before hiding his head behind his book. Jasper raised an eyebrow at the boy’s technique of hiding, before quirking his lips up in a half grin at his antics, "You lost?" Samuel slowly raised his head, nodding it. The blush still dusted his cheeks. Jasper tried not to pay attention to the blood rushing to the teen’s cheeks making the venom pool in his mouth. He swallowed the venom and smirked, making Samuel's heart jump. The sound was distracting and enticing to the vampire sitting beside him. Perhaps he would assist this human, if only to help keep him calm in class and therefore helping him keep his control. 

Judging by the smirk on his face, Samuel guessed that Jasper was teasing him, “I like history, but I’ve never even heard of most of this material. I think I may have taken on more than I can handle,” Samuel admitted, resting his head in his palm, feeling defeated. It may have only been his first class, but Samuel doubted he would ever catch up enough to pass on his own. Maybe he should ask Bella for assistance. 

“I have a few books I can lend you that may help if you’re willing to stick it out?” Samuel was stunned at Jasper’s offer. He had only just met the man and yet someone he had just met was offering to loan out his own personal books to a complete stranger. 

“Are you sure?” He looked up into those golden eyes once more. He was unsure and didn’t want to pressure Jasper, but at the same time, the offer sounded exactly like what he needed. Jasper simply found the hopeful expression the boy wore amusing and started packing up his props.

“I’ll drop them off at your house after school,” Samuel stammered, confused at Jasper’s response. He didn’t expect Jasper to give them to him so soon. He wondered if Jasper even knew where he lived. Shaking himself out of it he tried to protest before the bell suddenly interrupted him. With that, Jasper smiled at him one more time, leaving the room and a flustered Samuel just staring at his back. That was definitely the most interesting class Jasper had ever had there, in that small town of Forks. Samuel just sat there stunned, gaping at Jasper as he left the classroom, before everything that he just said sunk in. Were all small country town people this friendly?

**XXxxoxxXX**

When Samuel finally managed to snap himself out of that state, he quickly packed up his belongings and exited the classroom to find Angela loyally awaiting him with Bella, who had just returned from grabbing Samuel's locker key for him. She passed it to him and he nodded his thanks, a small smile on his face. Together they made their way to the cafeteria, with a short stop by his locker to stuff his belongings into it. Following the girls, he picked up a tray and grabbed his lunch, consisting of an apple and a drink of water. Samuel still wasn't quite able to eat much, since whenever he thought of food he felt sick. Honestly he had no idea when he would be able to eat normally again and Bella's nagging wasn't helping it any. He knew she was just worried for him, but she was going about it the wrong way. After collecting their food, the girls led Samuel to a table where five others sat, chatting and mucking around.

Upon sitting down at the table, Samuel was introduced to the rest of Bella’s friends. Mike, a 'key' member of the Spartan's football team, tried talking him into trying out for the team as one of the players had broken his leg not too long ago, while at the same time Eric, a member of the school newspaper and prom committee, tried to talk him into letting him do a feature about Samuel. Not to mention Tyler, a member of the basketball, football and track teams, tried to talk to him about movies and sport. It was all so overwhelming that Samuel couldn't even utter a single word other than "um,” "ah," and "I," That didn’t stop until he noticed Jasper sitting at a table with three other impossibly attractive people all laughing. Curious about the, undoubtedly cute, woman next to Jasper, he managed to speak up over the boys, "Who's that sitting with Jasper?" That single question alone managed to silence the entire table, making Samuel half glad and half scared of what he had done. It was Eric that spoke up first.

"You know Hale?" He seemed shocked at that, as did the entire table.

"Um... yes?" Still receiving confused looks from everyone, he elaborated, "He sits next to me in History," That seemed to be enough for them, as everyone managed to snap out of it rather quickly after. Eric even mentioned that he saw them talking in class now that the shock wore off and he remembered.

"They're the Cullen slash Hale's. Rosalie Hale, Jasper's sister, is the one with blonde hair and Emmett Cullen, the big dark-haired guy are together. Don't get in her way, she's a right bitch. Glared at me just for saying hi to her boyfriend Emmett Cullen, the huge one with the arm around her. He’s over protective as well. Intimidating anyone who even looks at her the wrong way," the girl who introduced herself as Laurent or Laura spoke up as she ate her food. What she said did not sit right with Samuel as he looked over at the two from across the cafeteria, suppressing an annoyed growl from escaping his mouth, "The girl, sitting next to Jasper, is Alice Cullen. She's really weird and hyper all the time. Jasper's just as bad as the others. He always looks like he's in pain or just holding himself back from attacking someone. Mr. and Mrs. Cullen took them in when they found out she was barren. They give me the creeps honestly," She shuddered. With that Samuel stood up, glaring at her, unable to take her rude comments sitting down.

"Why do you speak about them like that? You don't know them, so you don't have the right to judge! More than likely every opinion you have of them is the complete opposite of who they truly are. Get to know someone before you pass judgement on them," By the end of his speech, Samuel was almost growling. He could never stand for anyone being harsh to another and he didn't know why, but for some reason he felt protective of the Cullen's. Especially after Jasper was so kind to him in class and even offered to help him out. He didn't know the rest of the Cullen's, but he doubted that they were bad people. Besides, it always rubbed him the wrong way when people criticized others just by looks alone. Fed up with the hypocritical girl’s nonsense and the volume of their table, Samuel stormed off with his bag, having only taken a single bite out of his fruit. Angela and Bella quickly stood up, running off after him.

They managed to catch up to Samuel in the hallway and Angela apologized for her friend, explaining that not all of them judge people like Lauren did. Even Jessica wasn't that bad, most of the time. Calming down, he agreed to give them all another shot tomorrow for Bella’s sake. With that, they both walked to their next class. The dreaded double Spanish. Samuel hoped, by having Angela, a girl he was quickly considering a friend, and Bella in the class, it wouldn't be as terrible as he expected.

**XXxxoxxXX**

Still seated at the other side of the cafeteria, from where Samuel had just yelled at Lauren, a foolish girl who thought it was her business to criticise their family, was Rosalie. A shocked expression on her face. Over the years her family had grown used to the way others scrutinized them and urged her to do the same. But Rosalie could not simply let the harsh comments of others slide as easily as the others. Whenever someone made a harsh or rude comment about her family, all she wanted to do was stand up and fight for them, but her beloved Emmett would hold her down every time, keeping her calm and focused on him. But, for once, she didn't need to be held down from attacking the offender. This time she saw someone else literally stand up for them. She watched in fascination as he stood, his seat scraping the ground from the velocity of his movement, and raised his voice to Lauren. The look of shock on Lauren's face was nothing in comparison to Rosalie's. In all the years of her cursed life, never before had anyone done even a fraction of what that boy just did. For once she thought that maybe, just maybe, not all humans were as vain and selfish as she was in her human life. Thankfully she managed to shake off her surprise quickly, as the boy stormed off, out of the room, one of the quieter humans following behind him. As soon as the door closed behind the two, the silent cafeteria broke out into a chorus of whispers as people started to gossip once more about the new addition to the town and his outburst. The shocked expression on Lauren’s face brought a smile to Rosalie as she thought then that she would have to keep an eye on that boy. Samuel just did something she wished she could have done a thousand times before.

**XXxxoxxXX**

Dinner at the Diner to celebrate Samuel's first day of school was Charlie's idea of fun. Samuel couldn't agree less. The food wasn't horrible, nor was the diner itself. Honestly it was the people who bothered him the most. After finally escaping the crowded hallways and cafeteria, Samuel simply wanted a break. Since the 'incident', Samuel hadn't been much of a people person and he figured that wouldn't be changing anytime soon. But since Charlie had so graciously taken him in, he figured it wasn’t right to complain. So he kept his mouth shut and enjoyed the simple bowl of fries he ordered with lemonade, trying to get used to eating more again. Conversation was strained between them all, but from what Samuel had already experienced, he figured that wasn't out of the norm for Charlie and Bella. At least it saved him from having to come up with a conversation topic and feigning interest just to keep them wondering why he wasn't joining in.

Once arriving back at home, Samuel headed up stairs without saying a word to the others and entered his room. Dropping his bag next to the door, he collapsed onto the bed, bringing his headphones back up, to play more music. He lay there, simply thinking about how the day went and how he could possibly survive like this. Acting as though his life hadn't shattered and he felt no reason to keep marching on. But then he noticed his door opening and his cousin standing there, looking perplexed. Taking off his headphones, he sat up and asked what she wanted, “Jasper Hale is at the front door.”

Samuel jumped up off his bed and ran past Bella, looking down the stairs. Indeed, standing right there was Adonis himself. Jasper looked up the stairs, directly at him, making Samuel flush at his actions. He walked down the stairs to greet Jasper at the door, “Hi.”

“As promised,” Jasper held out a stack of books and indicated for Samuel to take them from him. Prying his eyes from Jasper’s hansom features, Samuel reached out his hands and grabbed a hold of the offered books. But as he did so, his fingers briefly touched Jasper's. The cold temperature of his hand made Samuel flinch, a flicker of fear enveloping him before quickly fading as he regained control once more, not noticing Jasper’s brief frown as he felt the fluctuation in Samuel’s emotions. 

A smile once more in place, Samuel held the books close, “Would you like to come in?”

Jasper seemed to hesitate for a second, glancing briefly behind Samuel into the house, before shaking his head, “Sorry. Alice is waiting for me,” As he indicated to the expensive car outside, Samuel noticed the small beauty inside it. He didn’t get much of a chance at lunch to check her out, but even from where he stood, Samuel could see that she was gorgeous. She seemed to notice him and gave Samuel a wave, her face lighting up with joy. He understood how Jasper and Alice seemed perfect for each other.

“Okay. Thank you for these. I’ll see you at school tomorrow?” Taking his eyes off of Alice and looking back at Jasper, he noticed Jasper’s content expression as he glanced at his girlfriend as well, “She seems great.”

Jasper turned back around to face Samuel, a strange look on his face as he stared down at him curiously, “She is,” Not sensing any ill intentions or meaning behind his words, Jasper relaxed and tipped his head, “Until tomorrow,” With that, he turned and walked back to the car and stepped inside passenger side door. Samuel watched as Alice waved goodbye to him and pulled out of their driveway, before speeding off down the road.

Closing the door behind him, Samuel walked back into his room, ignoring Bella’s inquisitive gaze. As he lay on his bed, a flash of a smirk from the man with a strong southern accent entered his head and he felt the hint of a grin upon his own lips. Turning open one of the books, Samuel began to think that maybe life there wasn't totally pointless. After all, he appeared to have already made a friend with the human incarnation of a god.


	4. Developing Relations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note that due to my schedule becoming busier I will be updating monthly now instead of weekly. Sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoy the story.

Samuel awoke from a nightmare, sweating and panting as a strange stinging sensation spread from his forehead. Absently he rubbed where his head would soon start swelling, trying to assess the safety of the space around him. Hearing a groan to his left, he looked around to find Charlie mirroring his actions and finally realised what must have happened yet again. Before he could apologise, Charlie was already waving it off.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're awake. I dread to think of what you see at night when you close your eyes," Samuel looked away, awkwardly. Charlie realising he shouldn't have said that, fumbled through his next few words, "Uh... You should probably get up now, Bella will be up soon to get ready as well," He said before leaving Samuel alone in his room to get ready for the day.

As it turned out, when Charlie said Bella would be up soon, that was a relative term. It was several hours later when Charlie was about to leave that Bella finally emerged from her room. Bella slowly walked around the house getting ready for school while Samuel just sat, staring at the television, not taking in a single thing that passed across the screen.

Truly, all he could think about was how much he envied Bella and Charlie for being able to dream without constant night terrors. He could hardly remember the last peaceful night sleep he had since the incident. Knowing how some nights he would thrash around, bashing his limbs against the wall in his sleep, he was glad he had someone like Charlie to wake him from them when they became too strong. Samuel had lost count of the amount of times he had woken up in the middle of the night from a night terror and had been too terrified to go back to sleep. Or the number of bruises on his arms from where they had come into contact with the wall or nearby objects. It hadn’t occurred here apart from the first night he attempted to sleep in his new room, when he awoke with a scream, springing out of the bed, frantically searching around with his eyes for any danger before finally calming down enough to sit on the bed with the blanket wrapped around him. That night Samuel shook, eyes unable to stay closed for long as he continued to jump at any noise, not wanting to go back to sleep, afraid of what awaited him there.

A noise behind him of shifting keys made him snap out of his mood, as he realised that Bella was ready. So he picked up his bag from the side of his couch, walked over to the front door, grabbing his raincoat and slipped it on, before leaving and pulling up the hood to avoid his hair getting drenched from the pouring rain. Once inside the truck he turned on the stereo as high as Bella will allow and just gazed out the window as she started up the truck and backed out, away from the house and towards Forks High School.

**XXxxoxxXX**

Before they got out of the truck, Bella asked to see Samuel’s schedule. Not knowing why she was only doing it just then, instead of yesterday or even last night, he simply took it out of one of the history books Jasper lent him last night as he had been using it as a bookmark, sending her a curious look. 

"Okay, so you have AP Math, Spanish and English with Angela. That just leaves History, Gym and AP Law. I think Eric and Tyler may have them. They’re probably in some of your other classes as well. We also share a spare today with Angela, Mike and Jessica. I’m not sure about your spare on Thursday though,” Bella handed the paper back to him, making Samuel smile a little at her desire to help him.

“That’s when Charlie booked me in with the counselor,” Samuel rolled his eyes as Bella switched off the truck's engine and braced herself for the rain.

Samuel almost laughed at her as he calmly opened the door, after carefully placing his schedule back in his book, and stepped out of the truck, closing the door behind him. Looking around, he realised that everyone else was running towards the school building instead of loitering around like yesterday. He watched Bella slam the door closed and run as fast as her clumsy little feet could take her, tripping a few times, but managing to stay upright and not fall over before reaching the shelter the cafeteria building offered. Another content look graced his face as he calmly walked towards school, enjoying the feeling of the rain on his hands and face. A small reminder that he was in fact alive, although he sometimes wished he wasn't. Not if his death could have changed anything. Now was not one of those times though, thankfully. The rain always had a way of calming Samuel, even in his darkest of moods. It was an uncontrollable, natural occurrence that brought life to this world and helped sustain it. He didn't understand how anyone could hate it, as he took every moment he could to enjoy the feeling it gave him. 

As he stepped into the building, he took off his raincoat and walked up to his locker where he found Bella and Angela waiting for him there. Their raincoats and jackets, still dripping wet. He gave a small wave and Angela smiled back, Bella grimacing at her soaked hair.

"Morning, Samuel," Angela greeted as she walked up to him and gave him a hug. He stiffened a little at the action, unused to it then, but forced himself to relax and return it slightly with one arm as his other one occupied itself with sliding his bag off his shoulder and into his hand.

"Hey," He quietly replied as Angela let go of him, taking a step back, "I thought you didn't have P.E.?" Samuel asked, frowning in confusion. He watched on as her face scrunched up in confusion for a few seconds before a look of realisation appeared.

"Oh, Gym! I don't. I just wanted to see you and Bella before class to say hi and see how you are going after yesterday," Her smile turned into a slightly worried expression as she spoke, taking a closer look at Samuel.

"Oh," Samuel looked around, fiddling with the straps of his bag, "I'm okay, thanks."

"You have AP law right after Gym, don't you?" Angela asked. Having mostly memorised his schedule by now, Samuel nodded, "Great, Eric and Tyler have that class too. I'm sure Tyler can show you where it is. Well I have to get going, Eric's waiting for me at his locker," She grinned and waved to them both as she ran off, a warm feeling spreading through him at her words and the obvious care she had for him.

“I wonder when they will get together?” Samuel wondered out loud as he turned around and opened his locker, unsure if he should take out his spare clothes he brought for gym or not. Hesitantly, he turned to Bella and asked, "Do we just wear anything for gym or..." His question trailed off, unsure. Bella looked up from her locker, slightly shocked at him asking her a question for the first time, since they hadn't really spoken much yet.

"Ah, no. Coach Clapp will find you a gym uniform that fits when you arrive," The exchange felt awkward for both of them, so Samuel just nodded his head in thanks, looking away again. The first warning bell rang and they closed their lockers before heading off to their respective classes.

**XXxxoxxXX**

Apparently that day was circuits after warm-ups. They would be running, climbing ropes, vaults, push-ups and sit-ups. Nothing he wasn't used to from playing a striker in soccer for seven years, running in his track team and taking Heath and P.E. classes every year at school. Well, that’s what he thought at least.

Coach Clapp, their teacher, provided Samuel with a gym uniform which he quickly changed into before joining the rest of the class as they were separated into small groups that would rotate between different exercises. Samuel was placed in a group with Tyler and two other students he had yet to meet and assigned rope climbing first. Having only ever done it once before, Samuel struggled to keep up with the girls and just rolled his eyes at Tyler’s teasing and showing off. Next was the springboard and Samuel had even less luck with that, not even being able to perform one vault correctly and colliding several times with the wooden box. As much as he loved exercise, this class was making him rethink it. That was, until it was finally their turn to jog laps around the gym. They hadn’t even made it halfway around the room before Tyler was challenging him to a race. Laughing, Samuel nodded before taking off, leaving Tyler behind, yelling, “Hey, no fair!” before he tried to catch up. Not bothering to see if Tyler was keeping up, Samuel kept on running, enjoying the feeling, even if it was indoors. It wasn’t long before he started to tune everything out and just focus on his breathing and pace, never noticing when Coach Clapp’s whistle blew to indicate the next rotation or when he would pass the next group of students who had just started to jog. When he was running Samuel was able to stop thinking and just enjoy the moment, taking in the euphoria that it gave him. He would have to start going out for runs again. At some point he did start to notice that someone was running next to him, but he didn’t bother taking any notice as to who it was until some time later when the bell rang, suddenly jolting him out of his state. Slowing down to a walk, Samuel put his hands on his head, taking in deep breaths to calm down before stopping and bracing himself against his legs. Sweat dripped down his body in waves making his hair and clothes stick to his body as he tried to get control of his panting. His legs nearly gave out on him, it had been awhile since he last ran for that long. Clutching his knees Samuel froze upon hearing Jasper’s voice so close to him. Glancing to his right, Samuel could see the hunched over forms of Jasper along with the burly Emmett Cullen. His shoulders moving as fast as Samuel's, showing just how out of breath he must have been. But the large grin plastered on Jasper’s face never left as he stood up straight and patted Samuel on the shoulder. 

“You sure can run,” He commented, making Samuel chuckle, trying to convince himself that it was the exercise making his legs weak and his chest tighten, not the crooked grin on Jasper’s face.

“For a little sprite, you sure are fast,” A deeper voice commented from Jasper’s right. Emmett walked up to the two, placing a huge arm on Jasper’s shoulder and looking down at Samuel’s small form. Samuel froze at the contact, a bolt of terror shooting through him. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to get a hold of his emotions, still not used to physical contact. If Emmett noticed, he didn’t let on. The broad grin still plastered across his face.

“Thanks,” Samuel said, unable to look away from Jasper once he opened his eyes once more. If he was a good runner, then those two must be athletes. Samuel swore there wasn’t a single drop of sweat on them. 

Emmett removed his arm seconds before a voice boomed from across the hall, "That’s a great pair of legs you have there, Mr. Swan. And that stamina! We could really use someone like you on our track team," Coach Clapp called as she walked over to them, breaking his gaze from Jasper. Snapping out of his trance, Samuel stood up straight, placing his hands on his hips to steady himself as he turned to face the Coach.

"Ah, sorry. I need to catch up with my classes," his breathing slowly evening out, Samuel apologised, not ready to commit to anything like that at the moment, but feeling bad about it at the same time, “maybe later,” he said, knowing that the feeling of being back in a team would probably do some good for him.

"Good decision," Coach Clapp agreed, nodding her head and patting him on the back, making him tense up once more. He watched as she warily eyed the two behind him before leaving. Shaking his head at her antics, Samuel relaxed once more and turned back around to face Jasper and Emmett, seeing them standing there patiently waiting.

"We should probably go get changed," Jasper suggested, before walking slowly to the change room, expecting Samuel to follow. Nodding his head, Samuel silently followed Jasper, with Emmett close behind. A firm pat on his back from Emmett surprising him as he tried to hold back the startled yelp that wanted to escape him. Emmett then walked ahead into the changeroom with Jasper, Samuel following slowly behind. Lauren clearly had no idea what she was talking about when she insulted the Cullen's. So far they seemed perfectly fine to him. When he entered he found Tyler waiting for him.

"Hurry up man. Our teacher isn't the easiest going one here, if you know what I mean?" Realising that he didn’t have much time, Samuel nodded and sent Jasper and Emmett a wave goodbye before running to grab his clothes and quickly change, spraying deodorant quickly and leaving with Tyler, not wanting to make him wait any longer. When he joined up with the boy, Tyler grabbed him and placed one arm around his shoulders before walking out of the change room. Samuel wondered if perhaps he was getting slightly used to all the physical contact, as Tyler’s contact didn’t terrify him like Emmett did earlier, “Man, you should have told me you were a beast. I kept up with you for most of that, but I don’t know how you have that much stamina,” He just laughed and walked with Tyler to class.

**XXxxoxxXX**

As they walked into the class room, only a few seconds before the bell rang, Samuel was told to sit at a table on the far right, since Mr. Cullen wasn't in today. Not complaining, he followed Tyler to his seat. Samuel was relieved to see him sit next to Eric, and turn around to start talking to Samuel who sat in the desk behind them, “What Cullen?” Samuel asked, confused since Emmett was just in their last class.

“Edward. He may be a year under us, but apparently he managed to get placed in this class after the teacher noticed he was bored in his class,” Eric explained, only to be told by the teacher to turn back around and focus. It was halfway through the lesson when they were told to work in partners that he asked to sit with Eric and Tyler. The teacher agreed as long as they weren't too loud, like they usually were, apparently. Eric and Tyler high fived at that, smirking, and Samuel couldn't help but shake his head at their antics, amused. These guys were alright, he decided.

**XXxxoxxXX**

Sitting down at the same table he did yesterday for lunch, with Tyler, Mike and Eric, he listened to Angela as she started talking to him about the school paper. Lauren suggested writing about her at one point, making the rest of the table laugh even though it appeared that she was dead serious. She smacked Tyler for doing so and he gave her a guilty look, but all in all the table had a light and friendly feeling that Samuel enjoyed even as he didn't say a thing. He was glad that Angela and Bella convinced him to give their friends a second chance. He wasn’t too sure about Lauren yet, but everyone else seemed fairly decent and fun to be around, and, at least here, he didn’t feel pressured to be someone he wasn’t anymore. At some point, Bella suggested something to Angela for the paper, taking Angela’s attention away from him and giving Samuel the chance to look away from the table. As he did so, his eyes began to wander towards another table. Specifically the one that sat one Jasper Hale. Taking his chances, he glanced at Jasper, but quickly looked away as he was caught. Feeling eyes on him though, Samuel turned and glanced back at the table, where he noticed amused smiles on both Jasper and Alice’s faces as they observed him. Samuel flushed bright with colour, but smiled non the less, when Alice waved at him. He nodded his head in acknowledgement and turned back to his table. She seemed nice. Still conversing as normal, not a single one of the table’s occupants had noticed the silent exchange that had occurred. Getting dragged back into the conversation around their group, Samuel found out that Eric, Tyler, Angela and Lauren all shared his next class, English. Angela, Eric and Tyler offered to guide him to class while Lauren stayed back, whispering quietly with Jessica who apparently had class nearby.

“Hey, Sam. Lauren wants to talk to you for a bit,” Jessica’s voice grabbed Samuel’s attention, making him stop and turn to see what it was about. Noticing, Eric and Tyler stopped to watch on. 

“It’s Samuel. I’m not a fan of Sam,” He corrected automatically.

“Right. Samuel. Whatever. So, yeah… Lauren,” Jessica brushed off the attention and tried to steer the attention to the girl next to her. Lauren stood still, hands fiddling with her book bag strap. He could see how awkward she felt standing there as she avoided making eye contact. Jessica gently nudged her forward and whispered words of encouragement to her. Samuel watched as Lauren hesitated for a moment, before she pushed her shoulders back and finally looked up.

“You had something to say?” It was the first words Samuel had said to her since the incident the day previous. He wasn’t sure how this would go down, but he figured he would at least hear her out.

“Um… Alright, look. Yesterday was crazy. I didn’t expect you to have such a bad reaction to my words and,” Lauren started off on her teraid, not actually looking at Samuel, until Jessica nudged her once more. Stopping what was sure to be a rant, Lauren finally turned towards Samuel, only to notice that he didn’t look impressed.

“If that’s all you have to say, I’m not interested,” He wasn’t interested in hearing excuses, nor was he willing to be late to class for this. Turning, Samuel started walking away.

“Wait. No. That’s not what I meant,” Lauren called, stopping him in his tracks once more. He could tell that this was hard for her, but he wasn’t going to make it easy for her, not bothering to turn back to face her. Lauren looked around for help, but she could see that even Tyler wasn’t going to do anything, “Dammit. I’m sorry, alright?” She felt defeated and confused as to why all of her friends were siding with the new kid. What she said couldn’t have been that bad. Nevertheless, she had to fix this. She may have seemed alright on the surface, but underneath, Lauren was tense and uncomfortable, “I shouldn’t have said what I did.”

Samuel took a look at his new friends. They encouraged Samuel to make amends. Messing up his hair, Samuel let out a loud sigh, “Alright. I’ll accept your apology. Sorry about yelling at you yesterday. That wasn’t right of me,” Lauren seemed to relax her shoulders a little at that, even going so far as to smile at him.

“Awesome man. Hey, that was great and all, but can we get going. We’re running late,” Eric’s statement spurred them all into action. The boys headed off with Jessica praising Lauren for her bravery, following behind.

**XXxxoxxXX**

Rosalie sat at the back of her English class next to Emmett, bored with the idle chatter around her. She was tired of pretending to be just another foolish teenage human for the 27th time, but understood the necessity so they didn’t have to move around so often or bring forth suspicion on her family. They really were the only reason she put up with this farce over and over again. Still, she admitted, there were occasionally humans who surprised her. As the scent of the newest student and Rosalie’s intrigue hit her, she turned her attention to the door. 

She watched as Samuel stepped into the room of her third period English class behind two of the boy’s friends, unaware of the eyes on him. His blue eyes, eerily similar to the colours of arctic glaciers, quickly scanned over the classroom, not stopping long enough to take anything of detail in before stopping at the table in front of the class, where Miss. Potts, a young red headed woman with dull blue eyes and a heavy dusting of freckles over her relatively pale skin, sat, grading papers. Rosalie watched on, intrigued by the human who had defended her family, as his eyes flickered to the red of the woman's hair quickly, a spike of fear showing for a second before vanishing almost as fast as it appeared. Curious, she didn’t bother questioning it deeply. Human emotions were generally too boring and basic for her to delve into.

Her eyes focused on his left hand as he pulled out a slip of paper from his faded jeans pocket. She could tell that they once used to look quite impressive and knew that they came from a designer brand, but they were far too worn now to stand out in this crowd. Her eyes wandered from his delicate human hands to his head, taking in every detail from a distance. She could see each and every hair move around in the faint breeze of the room, even making out where his dusty blond hair was dyed in some areas to give highlights and had grown out since.

**XXxxoxxXX**

Miss. Potts signed Samuel's slip when he handed it to her and thankfully didn’t ask him to introduce himself one more. He had enough of that particular brand of humiliation yesterday. Glancing over the classroom, she informed him that the only available seats are next to Mr. Matthews and Mr. Hale, both respectively near the back of the classroom. Looking up at the back of the classroom where his instincts were telling him to avoid he saw Jasper sending him a friendly smile from across the room and shook off his unease. Samuel could feel his cheeks heating up and inwardly swore at his ridiculous developing crush on the already claimed man.

"What's with you sitting next to all the Cullen's in class, man?" Tyler asked, patting him on the back and walking away to his seat while Samuel just shrugged his shoulders and hoped that no one noticed the blood pooling at his cheeks. Still standing at the front of the class, Samuel swallowed the saliva in his mouth, gripped his bag and walked over to Jasper’s table. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he smiled back at Jasper while he took his seat.

“Hey,” Samuel hoped Jasper couldn’t tell how nervous he was. At the simple nod in acknowledgement, Samuel let out a small breath he didn’t realise he was holding in relief. 

It wasn’t until he was about to take out his supplies that a strong, large hand slammed into his back in what he assumed was meant to be a friendly gesture, but instead slightly winded him and made his heart rate skyrocket. Although his instincts told him that he was in danger, Samuel tried to push them to the back of his mind as he heard the familiar sound of Emmett’s laughter emanating from behind him. Turning around, Samuel realised that Emmett and his girlfriend, Jasper’s sister, Rosalie, were sitting behind them. She was even more stunning up close. Samuel didn’t think he could even find one flaw on her, from the woman’s pristine hair that framed her face perfectly, her golden eyes, much the same as Jasper's, except a few shades lighter, to her perfectly manicured fingers. If Jasper was Adonis then this woman had to be an angel on earth. He definitely couldn’t deny the family resemblance. Rosalie was definitely the most beautiful girl he had seen at this school so far. Possibly in his entire life. He resigned himself with the knowledge that this was going to be a long class with her behind him next to the bear of a man known as Emmett and his possible friend and current attraction in the form of Jasper.

"Hi," he manages to get out after a brief moment of wonder. He's never been like this before around a girl. Then again, he'd never seen one so beautiful before, even if she wasn’t his usual type.

“Relax man. You look ridiculously tense,” Emmett leaned his large frame over the desk and roughly rubbed Samuel’s shoulders in an attempt to calm him. Unfortunately it had the exact opposite effect and caused Samuel to stiffen up. He nervously chuckled and went to remove the large hands from him when he gasped in shock at the freezing cold temperature of Emmett’s skin. Samuel froze. He couldn’t breath. Memories of ice wrapped firmly around the skin on his arm gripped so strong he couldn’t break free. He couldn’t see clearly as his vision began to blur. His chest hurt, but he couldn’t do a thing about it. Panic set in as everything went black.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading! If you managed to get this far please let me know what you think. Any tips on writing, notes about characters and events, etc. I'm trying to make this as canon as I can, besides a few small changes I may want to make.


End file.
